Joe Blundo commentary: Avoiding sugar not a piece of cake

Also in Opinion

Subscribe to The Dispatch

Already a subscriber?
Enroll in EZPay and get a free gift!
Enroll now.

Thursday March 13, 2014 6:49 AM

After 14 days without sugar, I can draw one indisputable conclusion: I want a cookie. I really,
really want a cookie.

My no-sugar experiment started two weeks ago with a column that questioned the claim by
celebrity doctor Mark Hyman that sugar is more addictive than cocaine.

I still doubt that, but let me acknowledge what a
Dispatch letter writer said in response to my column: Some research does support the idea
that sugar is addictive, with serious health consequences for people who are susceptible. I
question the cocaine analogy but not the fact that eating disorders are real.

Back to my experiment: I said I would avoid sugar for 10 days (I later decided to go longer) to
see what type of withdrawal symptoms I would have.

So I ate no desserts or anything high in sugar, such as sweetened yogurt or energy bars. I used
no honey, syrup or artificial sweeteners. I drank no pop, fruit juice or sports drinks. I did eat
fruit.

The first two or three days were easy, but, as time moved on, I began to feel more deprived.

Sugar adds color to a diet. Mine was beginning to taste gray. Fasting at the height of Girl
Scout cookie season didn’t help.

About five days into the fast, I went skiing, worked up a big appetite and had to battle
mightily to resist eating a Clif Bar on the way home.

One side of me argued that it was a wholesome choice — it says “Organic”! — that would fortify
me until dinner. The other side read the nutrition label: 23 grams of sugar.

Breakfast has also been a challenge because I sometimes eat oatmeal or other grains that are
terrible without sugar. I ate them anyway but not happily.

I fell off the wagon once. When I went to see
ThePirates of Penzance last weekend at the Southern Theatre, a rum company had two young
ladies in pirate garb handing out free samples in the lobby. I took one, not thinking about the
fact that it was mixed with Coke. I think the pirate garb distracted me.

The fast has taught me two other things:

• I must have been eating more sugar than I thought because I had to do some planning to avoid
it.

• It’s surprising how many conversations revolve around ice cream, pie and other sweet things.
You become hyperaware of it when you can’t have any.

I lost no weight and noticed no health effects, positive or negative, from the fast. I’m
guessing that cocaine withdrawal would be a little more taxing.

In fairness to Hyman, he advocates the elimination of not only sweeteners but also flour for 10
days to “detox” the body. No bread? Can’t do it, doc.

Technically, I am free to eat Milk Duds.

But Lent has arrived, and it seems unholy to resume a pleasure rather than giving one up. It
might be a long time until my next doughnut.